


From Across The Room

by Raineishida



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Apprehensive Krem, Eager Tavern maid, F/M, I can't blame her, Krem's a total babe, Tavern maid wants to get to know Krem a little better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 03:45:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3881035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raineishida/pseuds/Raineishida
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jennifer, the tavern maid in Skyhold, has been eyeing Krem for quite some time. She insists they get to know each other a little better. After all, who knows? They could die tomorrow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Across The Room

**Author's Note:**

> Named by the ever so rad TCRegan, she encouraged me to post this. :) 
> 
> Dedicated to the real Jennifer... May you find a Krem of your own one day. <3

The redheaded tavern maid stared at him a lot. He caught her eye more than once, and she’d always blush and smile before looking away. 

Krem didn’t know what to make of this. Did she...like him? 

Even if she did, what was he supposed to do about it?

He pondered this for a long time before he realized she was standing in front of him. “Jennifer.”

“Hm?” he asked, looking up to meet her eyes, which sparkled with fondness.

“My name. It’s Jennifer. You’re Cremisius, right?” 

“Uh, yeah. Krem is fine, though.”

“So, Krem. You seeing anyone?” 

“What?”

Jennifer giggled. “Let me spell it out for you. I think you’re cute. Wondering if you wanted to grab a drink after my shift and get to know each other.”

“I don’t know…”

“C’mon, Krem. The world could be ending.” Her smile was easy, her posture relaxed. She was pretty, with her auburn hair in a long ponytail. The tavern lighting wasn’t good enough but he’d soon discover she had a trail of freckles over her nose.

“That’s your play, is it?” he found himself asking. “Manipulation?”

She grinned. “Is it working?” 

Krem shook his head. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

“Do you have some weird contagious disease?” she joked. Krem frowned.

“No…?”

“Then of course it’s a good idea.”

Krem sighed. “Well. How about if I’m still here when you’re off, then we can talk or something.”  
Jennifer grinned. “Great! I’ll come find you.”

Krem grumbled as she walked away. “It’s not like I’ll be far…”

 

\---

Jennifer was twenty, had an older brother back serving the Templars in the Free Marches, and she loved dogs, telling him about all about her mabari, Jack, who was still at home with her mom and ailing grandmother. She laughed freely and touched his arm a lot. She didn’t sit across from him, but next to him, and he was keenly aware of her knee against his leg. 

Bull had wiggled his eyebrows and lifted his glass to Krem before leaving the tavern to give them some privacy, as it were. 

“Tell me about yourself.”

“Would you run screaming if I told you I was from Tevinter?”

Jennifer laughed. “Nah. I seem to recall overhearing you saying something about not wanting to be there anyway. You escaped?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“You like to keep a veil of mystery around yourself, don’t you Krem?”

“I think it makes me more interesting.”

“It makes you hard to read.”

Krem cleared his throat. “Look, Jennifer… I don’t know what you’re expecting of me, but I can’t make any promises.”

“Can you promise a good time?”

“No, I can’t even promise you that.” His laughter was nervous, his cheeks flushed. Jennifer grinned.

“Can I at least kiss you, then?”

“Here?” 

“You shy?”

Krem glanced to the corner where some of the Chargers were quite obviously watching the exchange. “In front of all my boys? I guess, yeah.”

“Let’s walk.”

She pulled him up by his arm and led him from the tavern. Krem pretended not to hear Dalish whooping after him, his ears burning.

The walked along the battlements, Jennifer clutching his arm against her breast. Krem thought he was going to pass out. 

“Hey, Krem?” They stopped and faced the mountains. The moon lit Jennifer’s face in a pale glow and she smiled faintly. She was beautiful, her skin smooth in the moonlight, ethereal. Her eyes appeared to glow, and Krem’s stomach grew weak.

He waited for her to speak. 

“I know you’re nervous. I know you have things you don’t want to tell me. I just...think you’re cute and was wondering if I could kiss you. You can say no and I won’t take it personally. I’ve learned that it’s polite and better for both parties if you ask first.” She paused. “I just think it’s really great that you guys are helping out the Inquisition. We need good men like you for this good cause. I know that’s not much coming from a tavern maid, but… I’ve learned a lot from my brother, who tells me stories of his time with the Templars when he writes. Soldiers who are also good men at the same time are a rarity.”

Krem took a deep breath.“I don’t have any siblings. My father ran a tailor shop but had to sell himself into slavery so our family could survive. I don’t speak to my mother anymore. I’ve never stayed in one place long enough to put down roots. The Chief is my home. Since he stood up for me the one time and ended up losing his eye for it, I’d follow him anywhere, even death if he asked. And...I don’t know why you want to kiss me, but I’m flattered.”

Jennifer studied his face and smiled faintly while he told her this. 

“That’s the extent of it, isn’t it?”

“For now.”

“Forever, probably. It’s okay to be a private person, Krem.”

Krem said nothing. Did she know? 

“We all have our secrets.”

She had to know.

“I don’t need to know yours. I just want to kiss you beneath the moonlight and hope that it helps you have a better day tomorrow.”

Krem sighed and braced himself against the ramparts. Jennifer cocked her head to the side and smiled.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never been kissed. With a face like yours?” she asked.

“I’ve been kissed, yeah, I guess… But.” Krem shrugged, his ears reddening. “Haven’t exactly made the time for a lot of it.”

She stepped closer to him, backing him against the stone. “Make time for it now.”

No time like the present. He reached for her hips and she leaned up to meet his lips with hers. Her kiss wasn’t as aggressive as he’d expected it to be. Instead it was soft, and she yielded to him, letting him lead. 

Her tongue was sweet, like the wine he’d seen her drink, and she smelled good, like the flowers in the courtyard. When he squeezed her hips she gasped into his mouth and it sent a thrill through him. He had to stop this before it got out of hand. He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. 

“I’m not what you’re expecting,” Krem breathed. Her hands were on his face and in his hair and he couldn’t form much more than that. She was so soft, how were women this soft?

She smiled and kissed him softly. “I think you’ll find that I don’t care what you’re hiding under your armor.” She felt him tense and she took his face in her hands. “Krem. I mean it. You don’t have to be ashamed, but if you’re not comfortable with any of this, then we part ways up here.”

Krem sighed, deflating a little. His hands still on her hips, he lowered his forehead onto her shoulder. “I’m never comfortable.”

“Tell me what you need me to do,” Jennifer whispered, stroking the back of his head. 

“I…” He straightened and looked her in the eyes. “Hit me if I’m wrong, but my guess is you want this to go somewhere.”

“I want you. That’s where I want this to go.”

Krem chewed his bottom lip for a moment before nodding. “Right. Okay, well… I’m going to have to warn you that it won’t be what you’re expecting.”

“I never thought it would be,” she said with a smile. “You’re anything but normal. What person your age is a lieutenant and follows a Qunari around, ‘Even into death, if he asked’?”

Krem laughed. 

“Come to my room with me. I promise you that you can leave whenever you want.”

Krem hesitated, his hands still on her hips. 

She kissed the tip of his nose. “At the very least come lie next to me for awhile. Sometimes lying next to another warm body can remind you what you’re fighting for.”

“There’s that manipulation again,” Krem joked. Jennifer grinned and took his hand. 

“C’mon.”

 

\--

By ‘her room’, she meant one of the abandoned rooms in Skyhold. Many rooms were unoccupied and by this time of night, there was definitely no chance of anyone walking in on them.

“I share a room with four other girls. I’d hate for them to be jealous,” she explained, shaking the dust off the sheet on the bed. “Is this weird?”

“It’s been weird since you told me you thought I was cute,” Krem admitted. “But I’ve gotten used to you, so there’s that.”

She sat on the bed and beckoned him closer with a single finger. “Shall I undress, or did you want to do it for me?”

Krem sighed. “Jennifer-”

She smiled. “You’re a gentleman, aren’t you?”

Krem chuckled. “I’ve been a lot of things, but never have I been called a gentleman.”

“Good,” she said. He stood next to where she sat and she climbed up onto her knees to be level height with him. “Then will you do me a favor and relieve me of my clothes?”

Krem knew he was fighting a losing battle. Hopefully she’d stay true to her word about his comfort. 

“I’m keeping mine on,” he murmured, his hands finding her waist. She smirked. 

“That’s fine.”

“Is it?”

She ran her fingers up his chest and over his shoulders. “Plenty you can still do with your mouth. Is your tongue bolder than you are, I wonder?”

Krem’s face flushed. “Wh-!”

She giggled. “Sorry. I’m just...anxious. I’ve thought about that a lot lately.” She kissed him gently, her whisper just barely audible. “Your mouth on me, that is. Undoing me with just your tongue.” 

He stilled his trembling fingers and found the ties at the front of her top. She held his gaze while he undid the laces, and continued to watch him as he reached for the hem of her shirt. She lifted her arms to help him help her out of the fabric, and laughed when it fell to the floor with a soft sound. He looked over her with a soft smile barely gracing his lips, noting the goosebumps on her skin. He supposed it was a little cold in the room, and she was only in a skirt and her breast band. 

She giggled nervously. “Can you at least take off some of the armor? The metal will be cold.” 

Krem let out a breathy laugh. “I suppose. But I’ll do it myself.”

She watched him in silence as he unbuckled his breastplate and gloves, setting them down on the dusty table next to the bed. His undershirt was simple, long sleeved, tan, loose fitting. He unbuckled his boots and stepped out of them, nervous under her gaze. 

“That’s it,” he insisted. “Don’t ask more of me.”

She reached for him and pulled him onto the bed with her. “Don’t give me more than what you’re comfortable with,” she whispered. Laying back into the pillows, she pulled him closer to her, entwining their legs. He wondered what she was thinking about but was too afraid to ask her.

Her arms, bless her, were wrapped around his neck, not exploring his back, not traveling up his shirt to find skin. 

“You’re...very thoughtful,” Krem murmured. 

“Hmm? How so?”

“Never mind,” he said, silencing her with a kiss.

They kissed in silence for a long while, the only sounds the crackling from the fire and the soft gasps Jennifer made between kisses, a sound, Krem had to admit, was quite lovely.

It didn’t take long for Krem to decide to be a little bolder. She’d given him this much courtesy. 

His hands travelled to her waist, and within seconds, and her help, her skirt met her shirt on the floor. Now Krem was lying chest to chest with a beautiful woman in her smallclothes and she actually wanted to be with him. It was almost surreal.

Not to say he’d never been in this situation, but this...This was Skyhold. This was his home. For now, anyway. 

He felt an odd sort of affection for this girl who was smiling at him like the sun shone out his ass. Maybe it was because she was practically naked beside him and all but begging him to pleasure her until dawn. Unnerved, he momentarily debated dressing and leaving her there, but he knew that would just be rude without an explanation.

Jennifer quickly sat up and tossed her smallclothes to the floor. Krem swallowed nervously, appraising her with nervous eyes. She was stunning. While he was lean and muscular, she was soft, a light smattering of freckles over her shoulders. She reached for his hands and cupped them over her breasts, smiling as he blushed. “Don’t be afraid of me.”

“Jennifer, I don’t know what you know about me, or what you’ve figured out in our short time together, but-”

“Krem. I told you on the battlements that I don’t care. Whatever you may tell me tonight is safe with me, no matter what. I want to be with you.” 

Krem sighed. “I’m sorry,” was all he could manage as she lay back down next to him. He moved his hand over the plane of her hip, then down her thigh and back up again, watching in fascination as his touch raised goosebumps over her skin.

“Sorry? For what? Don’t be sorry at all,” she breathed. “I’m just happy you’re here with me.”

Krem’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration and he watched her face carefully. “You sure?”

“I’m begging,” she whispered. Lifting a leg up and over his waist, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and held tightly. “Please.” 

He drew in a deep breath for courage. He wanted to be here. She wanted him. He kissed her.

She gasped into his mouth as he gently pressed a finger inside her. Following her cues, he added a second, watching her face. Her eyes were closed, her lips a gentle smile.

“Are you okay?” she asked, opening her eyes to meet his. He frowned for a moment, then nodded, amused that she was asking him, not the other way around.

“Yeah.” He smiled gently. “You’re beautiful.”

She grinned, tightening her leg around his hip. “You think so?” 

He nodded. She ground down against his fingers. “Then fuck me.”

Who was he to deny an order?

\--

It was early morning before Skyhold awoke when Krem put his armor back on. He kissed Jennifer’s forehead, tucked the blanket around her and left the room in silence.

Hopefully Bull was still asleep so Krem wouldn’t get teased when he went back to the Chargers’ room. 

\--

Bull hadn’t even been in his bunk when Krem returned, to Krem’s relief. But he was here now, in the tavern, his grin light, his eye full of mischief. 

“So how was it, Krem de la Creme?”

Krem startled, glancing at Bull with raised eyebrows. “What?”

“The tavern maid. What’s her name?”

Krem used this moment of hesitation to take a swig of wine from the bottle. “...Jennifer.” 

Bull grinned widely and slapped his knee with delight. “Well? I need details, obviously.”

“Really, Boss?” Krem swiped his hand across his forehead. “Look, I don’t really-”

“Did you have a good time?” Bull interrupted.

“Yeah, but-”

“Did _she_ have a good time?” 

Krem sighed. “She says she did.”

“Did it seem like she did?” 

Krem blushed, remembering the look on her face, the feel of her skin and the sound of her gasp in his ear as he’d brought her to orgasm with just his fingers. “Yeah.”

“Then those are the details I wanted.” Bull winked, or so Krem assumed, his grin sly. “You dog.” 

\--


End file.
